"Biryani is possibly the Indian pizza. It remains intact for deliveries and has the flavours so essential for local taste buds," says Gaurav Mathur, one of the most successful private equity investors in domestic food sector.

BANGALORE|CHENNAI: Navaj Sharief, 39, left the family steel business to start Ammi's Biryani in Bangalore five years ago. It delivers traditional biryani hassle-free to hungry diners at their homes. Private equity firm SAIF Partners whetted this self-proclaimed foodie's appetite with an investment deal - to furiously expand home deliveries and express outlets within the city first and later nationally. SAIF committed Rs 40 crore, an amount 10-fold bigger than Ammi's revenue in August last year. Sharief has more than doubled the turnover to Rs 10 crore since then.

Some 600 kilometres away in Hyderabad, Ali Hemmati is working on an overseas investment to take his 60-yearold biryani restaurant Paradise beyond the city of Nizam . The second-generation restaurateur is tweaking the business model to drive home delivery and takeaway sales as he prepares to roll out Paradise in other metros.

A casual encounter with an executive from a fast food MNC fuelled Hemmati's ambitions . "He told me that the only competition to pizzas in India would be if someone could replicate the pizza business model with biryani ," he recalls.

Kolkata's Shiraz - the Awadhi biryani served there has found admirers in Javed Akthar, Shabana Azmi and late MF Husain - is talking to private equity investors to expand nationally, and overseas . Shiraz was born in 1970 though its origin dates back to a small restaurant called Taz, established in pre-independence Kolkata by Arshad Ali along with a descendant of the Awadh Nawab's chef.

Sharief and Hemmati are among the new breed of biryani entrepreneurs cooking up a storm in India's fast food business, while challenging the might of global giants such as Yum Brands and McDonald's . Their swift rise in recent years, with a business model to deliver biryani faster than pizzas and burgers is still localized but could raise the stakes in the $1-billion organized quick service restaurant (QSR) industry.

"Biryani is possibly the Indian pizza. It remains intact for deliveries and has the flavours so essential for local taste buds," says Gaurav Mathur, one of the most successful private equity investors in domestic food sector. "But the challenge is to scale up and build a brand. The biryani styles are varied, with strong regional preferences," adds Mathur, who was involved with early investments of JP Morgan in Jubilant Foodworks and MTR Foods.

The more than five-decade old Thalapakatti Restaurant , a family-run biryani business from Dindigul in Tamil Nadu, now serves over 8,500 plates across 15 outlets in Chennai. Nagasamy Naidu started Ananda Vilas Biryani Stall at Dindigul in 1957, which later evolved as Thalappakatti Restaurant, referring to the turbaned (or 'thalappakatti' ) Naidu.

"About 30% of our business is sent out on delivery and that number is growing. With people increasingly having lesser time, they prefer home or office deliveries which is sent free of cost," says D Nagasamy, Thalappakkatti Hotels MD and third generation family scion. After winning a recent trademark dispute, he is spearheading Dindigul style biryani into newer markets like Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. "We plan to open another 40 outlets in the next two years," Nagasamy adds.

Bangalore in the past four years has seen multiple biryani start-ups such as Mani's Dum Biryani and Biryani Zone, modelling their business along international QSR chains. "Home delivery is the core growth driver accounting for 50% of our sales," says Sharief of Ammi's Biryani, who built his business on a central kitchen model to augment home deliveries . His TMA Hospitality also operates 25 express outlets of the Ammi's brand.

While Hemmati of Paradise argues that biryani can reach your home faster than a pizza, it's also the pricing that makes it a serious challenger in the galloping fast food industry . A regular plate of nonvegetarian biryani retails at approximately Rs 150-170 across the country, while a medium pizza would set one back by Rs 500. The operating profit in a predominantly delivery-run business is between 15-25 %, while some push it up offering kebabs or a full meal around the biryani.

These modern biryani retailers have also kept pace with the changing food habits of more health conscious diners , says Nimish Bhatia, corporate chef at Lalit Suri Hospitality Group based in Delhi. "Ghee has been replaced by refined oil, spices have been tempered and the meat is lean," he explains as these entrepreneurs try to dispel the myth that one needs to hit the bed after a biryani session laced with spices and aroma.

Competition to pizza

A regular plate of non-veg biryani retails at approximately Rs 150-170 while a medium pizza costs Rs 500. The operating profit in a delivery-run biryani business is 15-25 %, which goes up with kebab offerings

In expansion mode

Bangalore's Ammi's Biryani has won Rs 40 crore funding from SAIF Partners Kolkata's Shiraz, which serves Awadhi biryani, is talking to PE investors to expand nationally and overseas Hyderabad's Ali Hemmati biryani is eyeing overseas investment to expand beyond the city of Nizams